The Ocean Clean Up: Addressing the Root of the Problem
A little while ago, we announced the Ocean Cleanup’s plans to unveil a secret side project. That side project is now complete and is successfully working its way through the planet’s rivers to rid them of plastic.
The Ocean Cleanup team has been working hard over the last ten years to produce new methods and innovative technologies to rid the world’s oceans of waste plastic. Their mission is to rid the world’s seas of 50% of its plastic over the next 5 years and are well on their way to achieving their target.
The Story So Far
After five years of research and design, on the 8th September, The Ocean Cleanup launched its first cleanup system, System 001, into the North Pacific to trial the technology at full scale. Following some success, system 001/B – a new and improved version that addressed some of the issues of the first system – was launched and is successfully collecting plastic from the ocean.
The Side Project
Since the successful launch of system 001/B, The Ocean Cleanup has been working on a new system that will focus on the source of the problem, rivers.
The Ocean Cleanup plans to tackle the 1,000 most polluting rivers, the rivers that are responsible for around 80% of ocean plastic, before the end of 2025.
In late October 2019, they introduced “The Interceptor”, the first scalable solution to intercept river plastic pollution that can be deployed around the world.
The Interceptor makes use of the company’s ocean clean up technology to collect plastic from rivers and stop it from entering the oceans. It is capable of extracting 50,000 kg of rubbish per day under optimised conditions.
So far, four Interceptors have been built and two systems are already in operation and they are aiming to have 10 Interceptor projects in operation by the end of the year.
An Environmentally Friendly Solution
The Interceptor is 100 percent solar-powered with onboard lithium-ion batteries that enable it to operate silently and without exhaust fumes both during the day and during the night. It is designed for autonomous operation twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week. It will not interfere with other vessels and does not harm the safety of, or impede the movement of, wildlife. An onboard, Internet-connected computer monitors the health, energy use and performance of the vessel.
Supporting the Ocean Clean Up
The Ocean Cleanup is doing incredible things for the wellbeing of our planet. The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organisation that is developing advanced technologies to rid the ocean of plastic and, with support from donors like Global Office Supplies, aim to clean up half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in just five years’ time.
We stand by them and everything they are doing and hope that you do too.
You too can help The Ocean Cleanup mission by means of a one-off or regular donation or by purchasing some of their merchandise. Visit their website to find out more about how you can help.
Let’s make a difference together!